Leopold Notes November 2012
Notes from the Leopold Center Archive
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
The Local Food and Farm Program coordinated by Craig Chase at the Leopold Center is looking for project ideas that increase profitability and the number of jobs along the local food chain. Deadline is November 29, 2012.
See "2012 RFP' on the Local Food and Farm Program web page
NATIONAL ATTENTION
Research about the benefits of extended rotations at ISU’s Marsden Farm has generated national attention. A peer-reviewed journal article captured the attention of a popular New York Times columnist and a writer for Wired Science. The scientific article has been viewed more than 10,000 times since it was published October 10, and was the topic of more than 300 Facebook posts, 93 Tweets and an hour-long Iowa Public Radio program.
- Here's the Leopold Center grant that supports this research
- Read articles in Wired Science and New York Times blog and Iowa Public Radio program - October 2012
- Read column in the New York Times - November 2012
SCALING UP
A new report looks at the challenges and opportunities for farmers looking to scale-up their operations to serve wholesale markets. Prepared by Practical Farmers of Iowa, the report was funded as special project of the statewide Local Food and Farm Initiative coordinated by Craig Chase at the Leopold Center.
Get the Scaling-Up report (funded by the Local Food and Farm Program)
IOWA ORGANIC CONFERENCE
For the first time in 12 years, this popular event will be in the Memorial Union in Iowa City. The event kicks off Sunday evening, November 18, with a screening of the Symphony of the Soil documentary and filmmaker Deborah Koons Garcia. Keynote speakers are urban ag pioneer Will Allen of Growing Power, and Fred Kirschenmann, Distinguished Fellow at the Leopold Center.
MORE EVENTS ON THE WAY
As we move into the winter conference season, check our calendar on the web for even more events, including the
- Healthy Farms Healthy People Conference hosted by the Iowa Food Systems Council November 16 in Marshalltown
- Midwest Value Added Agriculture Conference December 12-13 in LaCrosse (the Leopold Center is among the sponsors)and
- Cover Crops: Practical Strategies for Your Farm December 13-14 in Altoona.
NEW PROJECT RESULTS
Summaries of what has been learned from three completed projects are now available:
- In good company
- Connecting family, community and health
- Conversion to perennial vegetation: Quantifying soil water regime, aeration and implications for enhancing soil resilience to climate change
HEAR THEIR STORIES
Don't miss new videos by the Women, Food and Agriculture Network, where remarkable Iowa women tell stories of their farms, their families, and the difficult choices they've faced as landowners with strong ties to the land. The videos were produced by the Sustainable Agriculture Land Tenure (SALT) Initiative that has been funded by the Leopold Center since 2009.
Read more about the project here
FARMSCAPE
Celebrate the book launch of Mary Swander's Farmscape, a play that she wrote with Iowa State students. The play has toured for four years and is now published by Ice Cube Press. The reading will be November 9 in Ames.
Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture |
Ames, Iowa 50011 |
(515) 294-3711 |
leocenter@iastate.edu